1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of stringed musical instruments and, more particularly, to picks or plectrums that musicians frequently use in playing plucked string musical instruments of the lute family such as guitars, banjos, mandolins, lyres, and zithers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One class of picks commonly used by musicians in playing plucked string musical instruments, that frequently is molded from a plastic material in any one of a variety of different shapes, consists of a substantially planar, pointed blade for plucking the strings. To use this particular type of pick, a musician grips it firmly between a thumb and a finger of one hand. A well recognized difficulty with this type of pick is its tendency to slip from the musician's grasp. However, firmly gripping such a pick to prevent dropping it creates tension in the muscles of the forearm of the hand holding the pick, and concurrent stiffness and rigidity in a musician's wrist and hand. Conversely, speed and mobility of hand movement, that is essential for smoothly and clearly executing musical passages while playing such an instrument, requires this same forearm to be relaxed and free from tension.
Somewhat elaborate attempts have been made to provide picks that are easier to hold and retain while playing a stringed musical instrument. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 655,959, entitled "Mandolin Pick Holder" that issued Aug. 14, 1900 on an application filed in the name of Carolyn M. Cochrane, discloses a hollow cylinder having closed ends and a roughened surface that is pierced by a slot for receiving a pick. U.S. Pat. No. 998,440, entitled "Mandolin Pick" that issued Jul. 18, 1911 on an application filed in the name of Arnold F. Willat, discloses a pick in which the flat body is flexibly joined to a cylindrically-shaped cross-bar. U.S. Pat. No. 1,009,403, entitled "Pick for Mandolins, Zithers, and Similar stringed Musical Instruments" that issued on Nov. 21, 1911 on an application filed in the name of Joseph Gaynor ("the Gaynor Patent"), discloses a pick composed of a resilient pointed blade and of a rigid saucer shaped finger piece secured to one side of the blade by an eyelet. In using this pick, the musician establishes a suction that increases the firmness of the grip by pressing the thumb into the bowl of the finger piece and then closing the eyelet with one of the hand's other fingers. U.S. Pat. No. 1,117,056, entitled "Musical Instrument Pick" that issued on Nov. 10, 1914 on an application filed in the name of Louis C. Knackestedt, discloses a pick pierced by a plurality of openings that receive rubber plugs that project out from both sides of the pick. The projecting rubber plugs provide spurs that permit more easily gripping the pick. U.S. Pat. No. 1,263,740, entitled "Pick for Stringed Instruments" that issued Apr. 23, 1918 on an application filed in the name of Aaron Burdwise, discloses a pick having two loops of wire respectively secured to and juxtaposed with both sides of the pick. U.S. Pat. No. 1,461,070, entitled "Pick for Stringed Instruments" that issued Jul. 10, 1923 on an application filed in the name of Peter M. Rudesyle, discloses a pick having a circle of alternating, pie-shaped depressed troughs and raised ridges formed on both sides of the pick. U.S. Pat. No. 3,112,668, entitled "Instrument for Playing Guitars, Banjos and the Like" that issued Dec. 3, 1963 on an application filed in the name of Joseph S. Moshay, discloses a pick that, similar to the Gaynor Patent, is pierced by a hole that, in use, is closed by the musician's thumb and one finger.